My new watercooled system

Jed Shields · 5 Dec 2011 at 15:54

Hi guys,

my new system is now up and running, thanks to everyone here who answered many of my noob questions. I took some pics as progresses and thought I'd share them with you.

My shopping list:

Intel i7 2700k CPU
ASRock Z68 Extreme 4 Gen 3 motherboard
Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual/Quad Channel Kit
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 570 OC WINDFORCE 3X 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Overclockers V12 Watercooling Kit
Scythe Kazemaster Ace fan controller
Corsair AX850 PSU
Corsair Obsidian 800D case
Mayhems Blueberry Blue coolant.

Old kit carried over:

Soundblaster X-Fi Fatal1ty with front unit
LG Bluray / HD-DVD player

Table full of expensive goodies:

Jed Shields · 5 Dec 2011 at 15:57

The first thing I did was to build the PC using the stock cooler just to make sure that everything was okay. I didn't fancy finishing the watercooling only to discover a dodgy motherboard requiring a total strip down!

Even at this stage I was loving the space in the 800D. I was used to working in cramped conditions, even with my previous Antec P160, which I thought was big enough.

Success! Now on to round 2 ...

Jed Shields · 5 Dec 2011 at 16:09

I added the fans to the radiator and wasn't sure which way round to put them. I decided on drawing air from the case and pushing it through the radiator and out.

Stripped out the stock cooler, ready for the watercooling.

The OCUK V12 kit came with a front bay reservoir. Putting it at the top seemed to be tight for space so I decided to drop it down a bit. The Soundblaster front panel is fairly short and didn't get in the way when I put it in the top position. The DVD player needed to go below the reservoir though, otherwise it would make routing the hose difficult.

I placed the pump in the bottom bay next to the PSU. It's freestanding at the moment and seems okay. I might secure it more with some velcro if it needs it.

I secured the hose to the CPU plate before attaching it to the CPU. Man, pushing those hoses on is hard work!

Next step - filling up with liquid and testing for leaks. Gulp.

Jed Shields · 5 Dec 2011 at 16:17

I placed kitchen towel underneath all the joints.

I couldn't figure out how to power up the water cooler without powering up the motherboard. I posted a question here and someone mentioned bridging the green and black wires on the PSU. Unfortunately the Corsair wires are all black

I then had the brainwave of hooking it up to my wife's PC :cool:

Liquid starting to flow through the system. Once it was full I spent the next few minutes crossing my fingers - no leaks! I left it running overnight and not one drop was found. What was I worried about?

Jed Shields · 5 Dec 2011 at 16:24

My Scythe fan controller was out of stock so I got the PC up and running without it for a week. I initially overclocked it to 5GHz but it wouldn't boot up. I dropped it back to 4.5GHz and it's been running fine.

Finally my fan controller arrived and I could finish it off.

The back of the case is like a rats nest. I definitely need to get some cable management fixings. Plus the fan controller wires look awful so I'll be braiding them soon. However, due to the 800D's amazing design, most of the wires are hidden well.

I can't see those wires when I'm sitting at my desk though

I placed the temperature sensors around the case, trying to keep them out of view. I've managed to get all 3 radiator fans connected to one channel, the others being the rear case fan, fan between the lower PSU area and the main area and finally the HDD area.

Jed Shields · 5 Dec 2011 at 16:28

Finally finished and relocated beneath my desk. It doesn't actually fit there so I'll be moving it to the side of the desk and moving my server up into the attic. One word of caution - a fully loaded 800D weighs an absolute ton!

What sort of temperatures should I be getting in the case? I've turned the fans down to 50% to reduce the noise and the temp is ranging from 23 (radiator) to 33 degrees (rear fan / mobo area).

Cleeecooo · 5 Dec 2011 at 16:44

temps sound fine

All looks excellent... apart from that disgusting copper block

Jed Shields · 5 Dec 2011 at 16:51

Cleeecooo said:
temps sound fine

All looks excellent... apart from that disgusting copper block

Copper block looks blue to me

Barrybear · 5 Dec 2011 at 16:58

Love the colour and great build.

Have you thought about an inline temperature sensor to see water temps?

Jed Shields · 5 Dec 2011 at 17:00

Barrybear said:
Have you thought about an inline temperature sensor to see water temps?

Do what? How would I do that? I guess putting one into the reservoir?

Jed Shields · 5 Dec 2011 at 17:20

I posted earlier that I was running at 4.8GHz, but made a mistake it's actually 4.5GHz. I just tried upping it to 4.8 using the ASRock utility and it gave me a BSOD. The same for 4.7 as well. It seems to be okay at 4.6. I just changed the value of the CPU multiplier using the slider. IS there anything else I should be doing?

d4ns · 5 Dec 2011 at 17:55

In the overclocking part of the forum there is a very good thread for the asrock extreme 4 gen 4 boards. You a better doing it through the BIOS. The vcore voltage needs adjusting. There are tried and proved bios options/figures in the thread. Am running the extreme 7 at 4.7Ghz with no problems at all and max temps of 62 degrees in IBT with a similar setup.

As for the inline temp sender its like a connection you put into a hose to allow a temp sender to be screwed in. You can also get them to screw into the spare connections in the reservoir, which should be a similar temp when things balance out.

Cleeecooo · 5 Dec 2011 at 18:06

Jed Shields said:
Copper block looks blue to me

but... it's copper :eek:

Anyways, all opinion

Plaaning to do the GPU aswell?

Jed Shields · 5 Dec 2011 at 18:29

d4ns said:
In the overclocking part of the forum there is a very good thread for the asrock extreme 4 gen 4 boards. You a better doing it through the BIOS. The vcore voltage needs adjusting. There are tried and proved bios options/figures in the thread. Am running the extreme 7 at 4.7Ghz with no problems at all and max temps of 62 degrees in IBT with a similar setup.

As for the inline temp sender its like a connection you put into a hose to allow a temp sender to be screwed in. You can also get them to screw into the spare connections in the reservoir, which should be a similar temp when things balance out.

Struggling to find the thread ... this one?

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18310983&highlight=asrock+extreme+gen

Cleecooo - it's what was included in the pack. Bear in mind that I have absolutely no experience in this area and so bought a kit like a noob

I'll be w/c a GPU when I swap my 570 for a next gen card next year ...

Cleeecooo · 5 Dec 2011 at 18:57

Is your 570 a Gigabyte OC?

You could have changed the block

d4ns · 5 Dec 2011 at 19:03

I lie it was in motherboards:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18296625

Hope this helps, was very useful to me.

s7cn · 5 Dec 2011 at 19:08

Good job buddy!

BriT · 5 Dec 2011 at 19:13

Good job. Similer to my next WC build, ordering tomorrow

Avathar77 · 5 Dec 2011 at 19:20

Ignore Mr.Cleeecooo, his dislike for all things coper is renowned!

But to be honest it would be a pain to clean the block after some time, because of the coper oxidisation. I thought I could live with it with one of my GPU only blocks but I ended up getting a nickel full cover block.
Are those temps you stated from the temp censors placed outside?
Use software like hardware monitor or speedfan or core temp to monitor CPU and GPU temps.

Cleeecooo · 5 Dec 2011 at 19:23

Avathar77 said:
Ignore Mr.Cleeecooo, his dislike for all things coper is renowned!

wHAT WOULD POSSIBLY MAKE YOU THINK THAT? :d

edit: left caps lock on :/